First half of a Robert Creeley lecture on the origins, history, politics, and techniques of language poetry. He looks at how language poetry evolved out of earlier styles as well as its influence on contemporary poets. Topics include the ideas of Charles Bernstein, the work of Charles Olson, William Carlos Williams, Robert Duncan, Ezra Pound, and many others, as well as the possibilities for using words without referents. (Continued on 84P010)